Disney World - Take 1

Our first trip to Disney.  I feel I can't justly put into words the excitement that it brought Adrey.  And the overwhelming joy and pride that overcame me and John, witnessing Adrey's excitement.  We loaded up the car, put our pretend Mickey ears on, and headed up I-75 (tailing the Michettis) for our first trip to visit Mickey...

We got to the hotel around 4:30 and got ourselves situated there, then we loaded up, strapped the munchkins in their stroller, and headed to catch the bus to Magic Kingdom.  The whole while, I kept saying to Adrey, "Are you ready to see Mickey?  Are you so excited to see Donald Duck?  Wanna go on some fun rides?"..... I don't think he really knew what we were doing, but he TOTALLY knew it was something fun and he was READY!!  Once again, Charlie was just happy to be with us!!

When Adrey saw the bus pull up his eyes got as big as golf balls.  I think he thought he had died and gone to heaven!  He had a grin on his face from ear to ear and I know he felt like SUCH a big boy when he hopped onto the bus all by himself and sat down all by himself in his seat... with NO car seat!  Billy and Adrey are BFF's and Billy was such a big help with Adrey over the weekend.  Adrey loved holding his hand and sitting by him.  It took about 20 minutes to get to MK and I swear I must have turned to look at Adrey 100 times just to see his reactions.  He was so amazed by it all.  Watching him soak it all in was breathtaking... literally.  And THAT my friends was the first of many tears that I shed over the course of the weekend.  Yes I cried riding the bus.  But you would have too had it been your kid... I promise!!

Drum Roll PLEASE........

As soon as we walked into the park, there was a mini parade (seriously, it only lasted like 3 minutes).  And this, my friends, would be the second time I cried.... when I saw these men on stilts and saw Adrey's expression on his face, I lost it.  Lost it completely. 

After the parade we headed to Tomorrow Land.  I passed by a kiosk filled with neon glowing STUFF.  I totally got caught up in the moment and bought Adrey a light saber.  He was so happy when I handed it to him.  He then spent the next 15 minutes hitting every trash can, chair, railing, PERSON, he could reach.  What in the world was I thinking?  We phased that out pretty quickly...

(Yes, that is Charlie slobber on my arm.  Lovely.)

We had our own Minnie Mouse with us...

Our first ride was the People Mover.  Adrey enjoyed riding the "train" but got a little nervous when we went through the dark tunnels.  Charlie enjoyed it too.
Oh, and I cried.

The castle and its lights were the most spectacular sight I have ever seen.  It was unbelievable.  Absolutely, jaw-dropping.

There was a performance in front of the castle, which we couldn't see, but we could hear!  We found a cozy little spot on the curb and waited patiently for the BIG parade to begin!

Adrey's face in this series of pictures pretty much sums up his entire weekend.  Just happy.

(Mama is TOTALLY diggin' Daddy's new little goatee he's sportin')

We had to tell Charlie about the parade the next morning cuz the little critter fell asleep before it even started...

He loved the cotton candy, but he loved the parade WAY more!  As soon as the parade started he handed me the cotton candy because he needed to focus!!

It's kind of hard to tell, but in this next picture, that's Woody and Jessie from Toy Story on the float.  Adrey could not believe his eyes!  And he kept shouting, "Woody!  Woody!".  Be. Still. My. Heart.

Annnnnnnnnnd, I cried.

Adrey LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the parade.  It only lasted about 30 minutes but I swear he could have stayed all night!  Our next stop was the "Ceatups" as Adrey called it.  We waited in line for about 10 minutes and the whole time I was wondering if we should do it or not.  I didn't want Adrey to not like it and then not be interested in going on any other rides the rest of the weekend.  BOY am I glad I didn't listen to my inner voice.  HE LOVED IT!  He laughed hysterically the entire 90 seconds we were spinning in circles!  I nearly lost my dinner but it was so fun to listen and watch Adrey!!

And if this next picture doesn't confirm how much fun he had, I don't know what would!!  At about 10:00 he asked for ducky and paci and then pointed to the stroller.... He was OUT in a matter of minutes!

And I managed to change him and he never really woke up!

Charlie, on the other hand, woke up and was happy as a clam!

My how times have changed....

The whole night I just wanted to jot down on paper all the feelings and emotions I was experiencing because I didn't want them to fade.  There's a reason they call it the most magical place on earth.  By the end of that night, I was pretty sure Adrey had just experienced the best 5 hours of his life!  And me too!  We stayed at Disney for two more days... my hope is to do a blog post EVERY NIGHT this week!  More pictures to come!!